Technology In The Classrooms Of K-12 Schools

In the public schools in Vancouver, Washington they are integrating a lot of technology into the K-12 classrooms. They began to realize students pay attention and get more education from technology based lessons and projects that the teachers are creating for them. With this new approach to teaching, students have the want to learn and get excited to go to school wondering what technology device is next that they will be using. Not only are the students getting much more out of the technology being integrated into their classrooms, but with the new hands on learning the students can learn at their own pace and prepare themselves for a world of technology later in life.

With the teachers implementing these technology devices, ipads, ipods, Starboards, and Mobi tablets, the teachers are able to create a new, better way of teaching the children. Instead of the old way of standing in front of the classroom and talking, while students take notes or get distracted, the teachers can now be hands on with the students. The teachers are able to walk around the classroom and help the kids individually with their questions on the device and the teachers find that this more relaxed environment is helping the students.

The more relaxed environment of the classroom helps the students to not get distracted as easy. Not only are they able to learn on a "cool" device, they get to interact with their classmates and help each other with the technology as well. The more students are paying attention the better their test scores will be and this will boost the schools ratings, so the initial technology cost is definitely worth it. Not only are these technology devices helping the teachers, they are giving the students basic technology skills that they will be able to take with them throughout their life.

Not all children are fortunate enough to have a computer at home, so its important for schools to recognize this and have technology devices readily available for student to practice on and get acquainted with. By using technology on a daily basis in the classrooms it gives the students confidence that they are able to know how to use these devices with ease. The teachers are saying that by bringing in the ipads and ipods they are able to improve their literacy and reading fluency buy reading stories with their classmates on the device or working individually by recording their reading. The McLoughlin Middle School is integrating Google Earth Maps into their projects. One class is studying Immigration and Migration and the students are told to utilize Google maps to map the area from which their families have traveled and then the projects are displayed on a 77-inch starboard.

The students in the public schools on Vancouver, Washington have been very respectful to these devices and are handling them with care because they cherish the devices and how much they are helping them in the classrooms. They are enjoying utilizing the technology and learning in a hands on environment and being able to collaborate with their peers. Technology has came a long way and it's important for schools to notice that and update their classrooms according to the times!

Cell Phone Jammers in Schools

In Spokane, Washington, a school decided to install a cell phone jammer into the schools area to prevent students from texting or calling during class. The school has the cell phone jammer running for about a week until the FCC declared the jammer illegal because of the jammers possible interference if a student needed to use their personal cellular device for an emergency. What were schools thinking when they decided that blocking cell phone use out of school was okay without looking into FCC regulations?

Cell phones are becoming more and more commonly found in small children's book bags now a day. Parents feel safe knowing that their children can get a hold of them at any time of day and be in constant contact with their little ones. Whether the contact be through text messaging, calling or social networking, parents like the fact that their children can get a hold of them through the use of cellular devices. The times have changed drastically, we went from not having much contact with people that are not physically around you, to having constant contact with everyone; everyone on your Facebook friends list, MySpace friends list, cell phone contact etcetera. Before it was a mere, "See you when I get home." Or, "See you after school." Now parents can call their kids at lunch, arrange meeting places, talk to the schools, their kids friends parents to arrange carpooling and so much more.

How did the school not realize that the FCC would not allow the cell phone jammer to be placed inside the school? The school had to have thought that in case of an emergency, how would student not inside a classroom call for help? The invention of the call phone has saved many lives because of emergency situations and people having their cellular device handy to call 911. What is more important preventing children from texting during class or preventing them from emergency situations because they have their cellphone?